Watching today's game was painful. With ACab on leave, Carlos and Duncan on the bench - the O was essentially neutered. When ST was ending we were told the fourth OF would have to be a solid OF. One must assume that when Damon comes Cunningham goes. Lord - what will the OF be like then.

IMO with a day off tomorrow Santana should have played 1b to keep a bat in the order. A win today and we are tied.

So - what happens when Damon comes? Me thinks there will be more than one change. Then there is the issue of Donald and his throws. Is he on the team to play D or to hit?

Santana being given the day off was actually the best/smart move by Acta.. with Monday (today) being an off day, Santana gets two days to rest his left thigh.. (he was hit in the same spot twice with foul tips.. ouch) and whatever else ails him.. Jason Donald's pre-throw 'mitt tapping' is a bad habit that he's probably been dealing with for years.. It's either tap the mitt and throw accurately..or no tap and lack confidence in the throw.. it's a tough thing to break, but that's what the minor leagues are for.... BTW.. JD can tap the mitt and still heave one into the expensive seats..

What this series did illustrate: Shelly Duncan shouldn't be in the batters box whenever there is a RH pitcher...period..

GhostofTedCox wrote:When Damon get here the bench issues will become a clear issue.

Right now:Hafner is a DH only.Marson is always held in reserve as backup C.Duncan is pretty much LF/DH only.Damon is barely a LF/DH only.

It's almost like playing with a 20 man roster.

Even though Damon is most similar to Duncan, I think the likeliest odd man out is Cunningham. That leaves Jason Donald as the backup CF.

I think the Indians should prepare for this probability by sending Donald to Columbus immediately. He could play every game for the Clippers in CF, and get a little experience at the position.

Otherwise, we will be one Michael Brantley sprained ankle away from being cooked in the OF.

This is a huge drawback of having a DH only that only plays about 120 (or less) games a year and a team with 7 LH hitting starters. We don't know if Donald can play CF and right now Cunningham is our only bench option. If Cunningham is gone to make room for Damon, then Choo maybe our best CF option with Duncan sliding over to Rt (if only for a game at a time).

Duncan can easily play some 1B though. With Kotchman's struggles, especially against lefties, in the early going you may see Duncan get some time there.

Not as worried about CF defensively. Brantley is pretty bad in his own right and if he got hurt during a game, you could live with a guy like Damon there. Wouldn't want him starting there often but for a few innings you'd be fine. Got Carrera in AAA if needed among others.

Hermie13 wrote:Duncan can easily play some 1B though. With Kotchman's struggles, especially against lefties, in the early going you may see Duncan get some time there.

Not as worried about CF defensively. Brantley is pretty bad in his own right and if he got hurt during a game, you could live with a guy like Damon there. Wouldn't want him starting there often but for a few innings you'd be fine. Got Carrera in AAA if needed among others.

Trevor Crowe would require a roster move, but he'd be the most obvious replacement if the Indians needed a CF'er and didn't go into the market looking for another 'cunningham/pie/spillbourghs' type guy.. The trade by the Red Sox for Marlon Byrd looks like it's running into 'issues'.. so Crowe could be show cased for a future trade.. at least until Grady is ready to return..

Donald is just showing the fans what evaluators and the Indians already knew: he is not a ML shortstop. Sure, playing there one a week to rest the starter is fine, but when he is out there everyday his flaws there really show. He's versatile in that he can play a lot of positions....not because he plays them well....but because he handles them and at a few position is an average defender and has an interesting bat.

Mild strains to the hamstring injuries are really pretty bad from a 'management' perspective.. Players are usually accustomed to playing with minor bumps, bruises, sprains and strains.. A hamstring injury is one that needs to be completely healed before letting the player back into action. It would not be a huge surprise to see the Indians put Choo on the 15 day DL for no other reason that to force Choo to rest and rehab that injury.. Anyway this situation twists and turns, the Indians lack of ML depth, especially defensively in RF, are in a tough situation.

So, who replaces Choo if he goes on the 15 day DL?.. Candidates include Trevor Crowe, Matt LaPorta, Chad Huffman, & Ryan Spillborghs.

Trevor Crowe is having a phenomenal season at AAA. He is just flat out KILLING RHP's (.441/.487/.676) and can play any one of the three OF spots, at least no worse than Shelly Duncan. In spite of his past efforts at the ML level with the Indians, this is truly the first time in a long time that Crowe has been completely healthy. This may be his best chance at a shot to return to the ML's to show case his talent.

The Indians schedule for the next dozen games has the Angels (Four RHP's), CWSox twice (Three RHP's), & the Rangers (Three RHP's), so, Crowe could provide a needed boost to the offensive production while holding his own defensively in the OF.

Matt LaPorta's 2012 season in AAA is off to a great start. Matt could be the guy who may be brought up to play both LF and 1B, especially against RHP's, who he's lighting up to the tune of .394/.429/.848. Being able to play only LF, kind of hamstrings Manny (no pun intended).. Being able to play 1B doesn't hurt, either..

Tough call for Manny & Chris.. One thing is certain, the Indians absolutely will have to sacrifice defense in RF (not that Choo's defense in RF has been stellar) with whoever they bring up..

If Choo were to land on the 15-day DL the most likely options would be Carrera, LaPorta....or possibly Damon getting rushed up here.

With Damon coming back, you already have one 40-man roster decision looming, doubt Crowe, Huffman, or Spilborghs would be optoins for Choo since they all would need yet another 40-man move (and one not currently on the 25-man roster). While you could argue that Weglarz could easily be dumped (and I agree), don't think they mess with the 40-man unless they think Choo will be out for a long time (which it doesn't sound like).

Think the front runner would have to be Carrera if Choo went on the DL as he's on the 40, plus a real CFer (Brantley is banged up too). Sounds like Choo should be fine though....fingers crossed.

If Choo were to land on the 15-day DL the most likely options would be Carrera, LaPorta....or possibly Damon getting rushed up here.

With Damon coming back, you already have one 40-man roster decision looming, doubt Crowe, Huffman, or Spilborghs would be optoins for Choo since they all would need yet another 40-man move (and one not currently on the 25-man roster). While you could argue that Weglarz could easily be dumped (and I agree), don't think they mess with the 40-man unless they think Choo will be out for a long time (which it doesn't sound like).

Think the front runner would have to be Carrera if Choo went on the DL as he's on the 40, plus a real CFer (Brantley is banged up too). Sounds like Choo should be fine though....fingers crossed.

I agree that the 40 will hold Crowe back for now. I think it will be Damon (if Choo goes on the DL).